I’m Not White, But Nobody Can Ever Tell What Race I AmPosted in Articles, Autobiography, Identity Development/Psychology, Media Archive, United States on 2014-07-28 21:48Z by Steven |
I’m Not White, But Nobody Can Ever Tell What Race I Am
xoJane.com
2014-07-25
Casey Walker
Emerson College, Boston, Massachusetts
I have to go through a “coming out” moment in every new relationship to explain my ethnicity.
My skin is pale olive in the winter and a soft brown in the summer, and my hair is a thick, dark mess of curls. I have eyes that are deep brown and almond-shaped. My maternal grandparents are immigrants who left their small village and came to America with the hope of creating a better life for future generations. They lived in California and worked in agriculture, and my mother was the first person in her family to attend college.
Chances are, the thought of my ethnicity has crossed your mind by this point—race is one of the most basic descriptors, so it’s normal to try and come to a conclusion in order to construct a basic identity for me. However, in my case, people are usually wrong—I have lived my entire life experiencing instances of racial misidentification. I am not Mexican, Italian, Puerto Rican, or black (some of the most common assumptions). People have projected various stereotypes onto me, spoken to me in languages they assumed I understood, and thrown around various racial comments in reference to their assumptions.
So… what am I?…
Read the entire article here.